Tonight's Movie: A Midsummer Night's Dream (1935) - A Warner Archive Blu-ray Review

The magical Warner Bros. production of Shakespeare's A MIDSUMMER NIGHT'S DREAM (1935) is now available on a beautiful Blu-ray from the Warner Archive Collection.

As a homeschooling parent years ago, I bought the original Warner Bros. DVD for our children to watch.

I hadn't seen it in years before catching it at the 2018 TCM Classic Film Festival, after which I wrote that "its silvery cinematography...made a big impression; that was one of the titles I'd not been especially enthused about which ended up being a high point in the festival. I was so glad I chose to see it!"

It was truly special seeing that shimmering forest on a big screen in the dark at the festival, and I appreciated the movie's high quality anew. I was delighted to return to it this week thanks to the gorgeous Blu-ray, which is sure to delight fans of classic films, Shakespeare, or both. It's exquisite.

This film, inspired by a 1934 Hollywood Bowl production by Max Reinhardt, was directed by Reinhardt and William Dieterle. One of the film's stars, Olivia de Havilland, was signed by Warner Bros. due to her appearance in the Hollywood Bowl production.

The film's beautiful, mystical tone is ushered in by an overture of Mendelssohn's music, arranged by Erich Wolfgang Korngold. This print includes not only the six-and-a-half-minute overture but three minutes of exit music and a brief intermission card. Altogether it combines for a running time of 133 minutes.

Loosely described, the plot initially finds Theseus (Ian Hunter), the Duke of Athens, newly returned home from war with Hippolyta (Verree Teasdale), Queen of the Amazons, whose people he has just conquered.

Theseus and Hippolyta are about to be married, and while Hippolyta initially seems a bit reluctant under the circumstances, Theseus does his best to woo her. He's happy at the prospect of the wedding and announces there will be extensive revels and generally a good time.

It's fun to note that Hunter and Teasdale played husband and wife a few years later in COME LIVE WITH ME (1941). I'll also mention here that the Shakespearean dialogue absolutely rolls off Hunter's tongue; "King Richard" is terrific, and I think the ease of understanding him as the story gets underway does a great deal to pull viewers into the Shakespearean rhythms.

The rest of the plot melds together a couple main storylines which take place overnight in a nearby forest. Lysander (Dick Powell) and Demetrius (Ross Alexander) are each in love with Hermia (de Havilland), while Helena (Jean Muir) moons after Demetrius.

Meanwhile Oberon (Victor Jory), King of the Fairies, and his wife, Queen Titania (a luminous Anita Louise) are at odds over bringing up an adopted "Changeling Prince" (Sheila Brown), with Oberon also upset that nurturing the little one is diverting all of Titania's attention.

Oberon, aided by his little henchman Puck (Mickey Rooney), casts multiple spells that night, causing both Lysander and Demetrius to turn their attentions from Hermia to Helena, while Titania falls in love with a man-turned-donkey (James Cagney). (It's a long story...)

Eventually, after much shenanigans, including Hermia and Helena almost coming to blows, Oberon relents and undoes his spells so all may live happily ever after...

Shakespeare's play was "arranged for the screen" by Mary C. McCall Jr. and Charles Kenyon, and it's an added bit of fun for the viewer when some of the famous sentences we all know are spoken, such as "The course of true love never did run smooth" and "What fools these mortals be." I'd add that the line "Ill met by moonlight" became the title of a 1957 World War II movie!

Our homeschool program emphasized Shakespeare for just this reason -- it's astounding how many phrases in common usage originated in his plays.

Most of the cast is excellent, though I wished Powell were a bit less goofy and Alexander a bit less bland. (It was ever thus with the tragically fated Alexander, who died in 1937.) Muir and de Havilland are perfection, and for me Anita Louise steals the movie as the ethereal Titania. Indeed, Titania and the fairies, who dance in marvelous floaty costumes by Max Ree, are the high point of the film.

Jory, like Hunter, is exceptionally eloquent in his line readings, though his heavy makeup and overbearing persona make him rather creepy.

Rooney is well cast, though I'd venture to say we see a bit too much of him given that his character is extremely...animated. Cagney is fine as the rough-hewn actor turned donkey, and then back again.

The rest of the cast includes Joe E. Brown, Grant Mitchell, Frank McHugh, Hugh Herbert, and Helen Westcott.

Westcott, who costarred in THE GUNFIGHTER (1950), played the fairy named Cobweb as a child actress. Billy Barty is also recognizable as the fairy Mustard-Seed. Margaret Kerry, the model for Disney's fairy Tinkerbell in PETER PAN (1953) who recently passed away, was also a MIDSUMMER NIGHT'S DREAM fairy as a young child.

The most remarkable thing about this film is the sparkly, gorgeous black and white photography by Hal Mohr, which is the stuff of legend; he was the only write-in winner in Oscar history. The film also won Best Editing and was nominated for Best Picture and Assistant Director, a category which disappeared later in the decade.

The film has remarkable special effects, including flying fairies and the previously mentioned shimmering forest. Mohr achieved the sparkling effects he photographed with a variety of techniques including paint, hanging metal particles, glitter, and more, in essence doubling as a special effects artist as well as cinematographer.

My only real complaint is that the performance by the theatrical company at the end goes on far too long, after all the emotional stories have been wrapped up; that said, I assume the filmmakers wanted to be relatively faithful to the source material. (I don't have our copy of the play close at hand to compare!)

The lovely print is from a 1080p HD master from a 4K scan of the original nitrate camera negative, supplemented by "nitrate projection elements." I recall our DVD as looking fine, but I'm certain this Blu-ray is the best the movie will ever look. It's outstanding. Sound quality is solid.

Extras carried over from the original DVD include a commentary track by Scott MacQueen; Olivia de Havilland's screen test; a vintage eight-minute featurette, A DREAM COMES TRUE (1935); the 20-minute musical short SHAKE MR. SHAKESPEARE (1936), directed by Roy Mack; a brief promo with Joe E. Brown and Pat O'Brien; the trailer and gallery of teaser trailers.

A MIDSUMMER NIGHT'S DREAM is a wonderful example of what was possible combining a classic play with the creativity of artists under the studio system. Recommended.

Thanks to the Warner Archive for providing a review copy of this Blu-ray. Warner Archive Blu-rays may be ordered from Movie Zyng, Amazon, and other online retailers.

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Tonight's Movie: The Spy Who Loved Me (1977)

I recall the movie year 1977 especially fondly.

1977 was the year I first saw both ROCKY (1976), which had been released in December 1976, and STAR WARS (1977) for the first time.

I actually saw both those films multiple times that year theatrically, which was especially common in the pre-cable, pre-home video era, both because there was no other way to revisit movies and because there was a relative dearth of viewing options.

1977 was also the year I saw my first James Bond movie, THE SPY WHO LOVED ME (1977), which was released in early August. I recall going with my parents, and we enjoyed it so much we returned for a second viewing of that one as well.

I also fondly recall later purchasing a copy of the first still below, featuring stars Roger Moore and Barbara Bach, while on a shopping trip for Hollywood memorabilia. It's still in my collection today.

I've seen THE SPY WHO LOVED ME multiple times in the years since 1977, whether as an '80s movie rental or later on DVD, but until the past week I don't think I'd revisited it since the beginning of this blog over two decades ago. Consequently the movie felt both fresh and very familar, as for the first time in years I revisited and enjoyed the humor, suspense, and all the film's famous set pieces. 125 minutes flew by!

The movie begins with one of said set pieces, as James Bond is "relaxing" with a beautiful woman in a ski chalet. When Bond is messaged that his services are needed immediately, he skis away, chased by enemy agents. I don't think it's spoilerish, nearly half a century later, to say that the culmination of the scene, involving a Union Jack parachute, is both spectacular and funny.

The film then immediately launches into the greatest of all the great 007 theme songs, "Nobody Does It Better" by Marvin Hamlisch and Carole Bayer Sager, sung by Carly Simon. It perfectly sets the tone for the rest of the film. Hearing it again made me very nostalgic, especially with both of my parents having passed on in the last handful of years.

The movie, in a nutshell, involves Bond uniting with Russian agent XXX, Anya Amasova (Barbara Bach), after UK and Russian nuclear submarines mysteriously disappear.

Stromberg (Curt Jurgens), the villain who has stolen the subs and their crews, is obsessed with the idea of an underwater world and has plans to use the submarines to nuke the world's major cities.

Complicating the joint mission is Anya's realization that Bond recently killed her lover during thea aforementioned ski chase. As James says to Anya in a rare moment of complete seriousness, "In our business...people get killed."

I love pretty much everything about this film, including the relationship of James and Anya, which goes from flirty to action-based humor to high drama, as needed.

This was Moore's third film in the role, and he had mastered the unique mixture of his character being both believably deadly and amazingly quippy. I'll add that Moore was my "first" Bond for several reasons, including being the right age to see some of his Bond films on first release and the lack of easy availability of Connery's movies; to reiterate, the '70s were pre-cable, pre-VHS!

The fact that Moore was also a star on my all-time favorite TV series, MAVERICK (1957-62), which I came to love via reruns, drew my interest as well. While over the years I certainly developed an appreciation for Connery, I guess my first James Bond will always be my favorite -- which seems to be the case for many viewers.

Some may complain that the U.S.-born Bach's Russian-accented dialogue delivery is stilted, but I think it completely works, giving the impression she's thinking about what she's saying, which makes sense if English isn't supposed to be her native language. It was honestly quite a while before I realized she was American! (No IMDb "back in the day" either. I'm "dating myself," but I used to research actors at the library!)

Bach completely delivers on the humor, including the great little scene in a bar where James and Anya disclose they know one another's favorite drinks, and also the hilarious sequence where she and Bond are trying to escape from scary Stromberg henchman Jaws (Richard Kiel) before he rips the vehicle apart.

I remember wishing "back in the day" that XXX and 007 would be reteamed in a later movie, but I guess that wasn't a realistic hope given Bond's track record with women in his movies.

It's also been a long time since I last saw MOONRAKER (1979), but I recall Kiel's character being a bit more of a joke in that film. Here he's the perfect blend of amusing and absolutely terrifying. There's one scene where his presence is suddenly revealed which still makes me jump!

The supporting cast is strong as well, especially Shane Rimmer as the American sub commander who teams with Bond in a big climactic action sequence. Caroline Munro is also notable as one of Stromberg's assassins. Series regulars Bernard Lee, Lois Maxwell, Desmond Llewelyn, and Geoffrey Keen are, of course, on hand as well.

The movie's locations, especially Egypt, are perfectly utilized and filmed by Claude Renoir, who incidentally was the nephew of director Jean Renoir. And besides the Egyptian sequences, my favorite moment in the entire movie is the car which turns into a submarine. I still fondly recall our family laughing in surprise when we first saw it. 

The film was directed by Lewis Gilbert and written by Richard Maibaum and Christopher Wood.

Before becoming a prolific 007 screenwriter, Maibum worked on classic-era films, including some starring his friend Alan Ladd: O.S.S. (1946), THE GREAT GATSBY (1949), and HELL BELOW ZERO (1951).

While I'm mentioning older films, it struck me that THE SPY WHO LOVED ME would be great on a double bill with JET PILOT (1957), an ahead-of-its-time suspense romcom in which Janet Leigh plays a Russian pilot in love with American John Wayne. The movies have similar themes plus a goofy sense of humor mixed with romance.

I watched THE SPY WHO LOVED ME on a "Special 007 Edition" DVD which I purchased for our family way back in 2002. I have Moore's other 007 films in this DVD series, and I had such a good time rewatching this film that I'm planning to revisit his other Bond films as well.

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Cinecon Classic Film Festival Opens in Los Angeles September 3rd

The 2026 Cinecon Classic Film Festival will take place at the Landmark Nuart Theatre in Los Angeles from September 3rd through 7th, 2026.

This year's 62nd festival will be a bit longer than last year's, opening on a Thursday evening, rather than Friday, and concluding on Labor Day, the 7th.

This year's location at the Nuart Theatre is also a change in venue; the last two years the festival was held at the Writers Guild Theater in Beverly Hills. More thoughts on the location are at the end of this post.

After attending Cinecon in Hollywood from 2017-2019, I had a terrific time returning to the festival last year, attending two days of the 2026 festival. Last March I also attended a Cinecon "Pop-Up" one-day festival held at the Old Town Music Hall in El Segundo.

This year's Cinecon honorees are Nancy Kwan, Anna Maria Alberghetti, Lainie Kazan, and Barbara Eden, who are all scheduled to appear in person; additionally, Pat Boone will be on hand to honor Eden. Movies Boone made with both Eden and Kwan are on the schedule.

I was fortunate to see both Eden and Boone speak at a Noir City Hollywood screening of THE YELLOW CANARY (1963) last April. I was also lucky enough to meet Kwan and have her sign my copy of her memoir at last year's Cinecon.

Looking back quite a ways in time, I also saw Anna Maria Alberghetti star in THE SOUND OF MUSIC at the Terrace Theater in Long Beach in 1985!

Cinecon chiefly focuses on rare, relatively hard-to-find films. The full schedule may be reviewed here.

This year my husband and I plan to spend Labor Day at Cinecon. The films I'm excited about seeing that day include:

*REUNION IN RENO (1951) starring Mark Stevens, Peggy Dow, Frances Dee, and Gigi Perreau, who will be a guest

*THE SECOND GREATEST SEX (1955) starring Jeanne Crain, George Nader, Mamie Van Doren, and Tommy Rall

*CHASING DANGER (1939) starring Preston Foster and Lynn Bari

*WOMAN OF THE NORTH COUNTRY (1952) starring Rod Cameron, Ruth Hussey, John Agar, and Gale Storm

*THAT'S MY GAL (1947) starring Lynne Roberts and Don "Red" Barry

There are many other interesting films on the rest of the schedule, including:

*THE STARS ARE SINGING (1953) with Rosemary Clooney and Anna Maria Alberghetti

*THE MAIN ATTRACTION (1962) with Pat Boone and Nancy Kwan

*MANHATTAN HEARTBEAT (1940) with Robert Sterling and Virginia Gilmore

*ALL HANDS ON DECK (1961) with Pat Boone, Barbara Eden, and Dennis O'Keefe

*UNDER TWO FLAGS (1936) with Ronald Colman, Claudette Colbert, and Rosalind Russell

Now for some additional venue information: The main reason I'm not attending additional days this year is I would need to attend those on my own, and given that the Nuart doesn't have its own lot, I have concerns about how the parking will play out.

One of the parking lot options is a mile round-trip from the theater, and I also have concerns about whether walking to a lot that far away at the end of the day would be safe. One might be able to team up with other attendees, but there are no guarantees unless one knows other guests and can plan in advance.

It's also very problematic that there are limits on parking lot times which don't match up with the festival's hours, necessitating full-day attendees to move their cars at some point.

I could potentially end up spending quite a bit on festival passes and driving up from Orange County only to find I can't park in the hotel lot nearest the theater and am stuck with an option further away which doesn't even allow enough hours to cover a full day at the festival. Worst-case scenario, I'd find myself needing to move my car at some point from a lot which is a one-mile round-trip walk from the theater.

I understand it's a challenge for Cinecon to book theaters which will keep the festival at an affordable price, and I also want to encourage attendance at what is always a great festival, but the potential logistical and safety issues merit a frank look by prospective attendees along with the excellent schedule.

That said, my husband I look forward to attending together on the 7th.  Hopefully parking will go smoothly on the holiday and we'll have another great Cinecon day!

Visit the Cinecon site for additional information, as well as links to purchase full festival or day passes at the Eventbrite ticket site.

Previously: Cinecon 53 (2017), Cinecon 54 (2018), Cinecon 55 (2019), Cinecon Classic Film Festival Opens in Beverly Hills August 29th (Cinecon 60 2024 Preview); Cinecon Classic Film Festival Opens in Beverly Hills August 29th (Cinecon 61 2025 Preview).

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Tonight's Movie: A Man Could Get Killed (1966) - A Kino Lorber Blu-ray Review

The lighthearted spy thriller A MAN COULD GET KILLED (1966) is now available on Blu-ray from Kino Lorber.

Although I've always been quite a fan of James Garner, this is one of his titles which hadn't really been on my radar, so I was glad to catch up with it.

The movie was written by Richard Breen and T.E.B. Clarke from the novel DIAMONDS FOR DANGER by David Esdaile Walker. The story and tone are in the style of the numerous lighthearted spy films of the '60s, such as BLINDFOLD (1966) and ARABESQUE (1966), to name just two such movies of the same year as A MAN COULD GET KILLED.

James Garner plays William Beddoes, an American bank employee who upon his arrival in Lisbon on business is mistaken for a spy by a British embassy official (Robert Coote). It's believed that the spy is on the case of a fortune in stolen diamonds.

Beddoes is shocked when the car he was intended to travel in blows up before he gets inside, and he's increasingly exasperated as no matter how hard he protests, no one he deals with believes he's simply a bank employee and not a spy. He picks up quite a large entourage following his every move, including a caravan of inept spies from various countries.

Beddoes is soon entangled with Aurora (Melina Mercouri), who aggressively pursues him for reasons of her own.

Beddoes also deals with an American named Steve (Tony Franciosa), posing as a Portuguese smuggler; Steve is also mixed up with a woman, Amy (Sandra Dee), who recognizes him as her childhood crush...but now she's no longer a child.

Honestly there are so many characters, including some with mistaken or phony identities, that it's a bit of a challenge to follow the story.

However, thanks to the Lisbon locations and bright color cinematography of Gabor Pogany, it's an attractive-looking film, and Garner and Dee in particular make it a mildly entertaining 97 minutes. It's not a great film, but it's pleasant enough company even with a murky plot.

Both Garner and Dee were masters of the art of reacting, and their funny responses to dead bodies and other shenanigans keep the movie amusing enough to stick with it despite the too-large cast and flimsy story.

Mercouri is rather over the top in her role, though she gradually grew on me a bit, just as she does on Beddoes. Franciosa, on the other hand, is a little too colorless in an underwritten part as the would-be smuggler who seems happy enough to be trailed everywhere by Dee.

Given the movie's featherweight story, there really isn't much more to say about the performances, other than Coote does a nice job in an extended supporting role. The cast also includes Roland Culver and Cecil Parker.

One side comment: There's a much bigger age gap between Franciosa and Dee than there is between Garner and Mercouri, but despite that the age difference seemed more pronounced to me between the latter actors, with Mercouri clearly several years Garner's senior.

The movie was directed by Ronald Neame and Cliff Owen, who shared credit after Neame took over the film from Owen during production.

Kino Lorber's Blu-ray looks and sounds great.  Optional English captions are provided, as is the case on all Kino Lorber Blu-rays.

Extras consist of the movie's trailer; a gallery of five additional trailers for other films available from Kino Lorber; and two commentary tracks, one by Troy Howarth and Steve Mitchell, and the other by Max Allan Collins and Heath Holland. I'm looking forward to learning more about this film thanks to the commentaries.

Thanks to Kino Lorber for providing a review copy of this Blu-ray.

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Around the Blogosphere This Week

Miscellaneous bits of news and fun stuff from around the Internet...

...The Warner Archive Collection has announced Blu-ray releases for September and October. The biggest news for me was a complete series release of my favorite TV show, MAVERICK (1957-62), in October; it will be a 32-disc set.

 

...Among the other titles coming from the Warner Archive this fall are SKYSCRAPER SOULS (1932), MARKED WOMAN (1937), BOYS TOWN (1938), BUNDLE OF JOY (1956), PLEASE DON'T EAT THE DAISIES (1960), and DEAR HEART (1964). Also on the way is the animated series THE QUICK DRAW MCGRAW SHOW: THE COMPLETE SERIES (1959-61).

...The Criterion Channel September streaming lineup includes collections themed around "Girl Bands" and "Starring Madonna." I may actually need to finally watch JOSIE AND THE PUSSYCATS (2001) -- the animated series (1970-71) was a childhood favorite -- and the well-regarded DESPERATELY SEEKING SUSAN (1985).

...Speaking of Criterion, the Criterion Collection will release THE RIGHT STUFF (1983) on Blu-ray and 4K in late November 2026.

...New from the University Press of Kentucky: JAZZED: JACK COLE AND TWENTIETH-CENTURY AMERICAN DANCE by dance expert Debra Levine.

...Columbia House music club, in business since 1955, is finally closing up shop.

...Leonard Maltin has a quartet of film books he recommends.

...COYOTE VS. ACME (2026) opens in a few days at long last, and the buzz is positive, such as this review by Pete Hammond at Deadline.

...Glenn Erickson has a bunch of new reviews up at Trailers from Hell, including the Warner Archive Blu-ray releases of RANDOM HARVEST (1942), CAPTAIN HORATIO HORNBLOWER (1950), and CRIME WAVE (1954).

...Notable Passings: Biographer Emily Leider has passed away at the age of 88. She was the author of books on Mae West, Rudolph Valentino, and Myrna Loy. I fondly recall making my way to the Egyptian Theatre on a rainy afternoon in 2011 to see MANHATTAN MELODRAMA (1936) and hear Leider give a talk on Myrna Loy, along with signing my copy of her book MYRNA LOY: THE ONLY GOOD GIRL IN HOLLYWOOD...Actor-Singer Jon Cypher has passed on at 94. Known for his recurring role as Chief Daniels on HILL STREET BLUES (1981-87), he also had a special place in TV history starring as Prince Charming opposite Julie Andrews in the live TV production of Rodgers & Hammerstein's CINDERELLA (1957), seen here. A fun bit of trivia is Cypher later appeared for a time on TV's GENERAL HOSPITAL, where Stuart Damon, who played the same role in the 1965 TV version of CINDERELLA, starred for decades...Peggy Webber, whose long acting career included collaborations with Jack Webb on both radio and TV, has died at 100...Actor Ben Jones, known for TV's THE DUKES OF HAZZARD (1979-1985), has passed away at 84. He also represented Georgia in Congress.

...More Notable Passings: Oscar-nominated director Mark Rydell (ON GOLDEN POND) has died at 97. Rydell was also an actor early in his career. In 2008 I had the pleasure of seeing him on a panel discussing memories of John Wayne at USC; he directed Wayne in THE COWBOYS (1972). I liked his film THE RIVER (1984)...Actress Phyllida Law, the mother of Emma and Sophie Thompson, has passed on at 94...Hayden Panettiere of REMEMBER THE TITANS (2000) and TV's HEROES (2006-2010) has sadly passed away at 36...Japanese actress Keiko Kishi (sometimes billed as Kishi Keiko) died at 93. Her films included EARLY SPRING (1956), directed by Yasujiro Ozu, and Sidney Pollack's THE YAKUZA (1975) with Robert Mitchum, seen here.

...For additional recent links of interest to classic film fans, please visit my August 8th column.

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Tonight's Movie: Spider-Man: Brand New Day (2026)

It's been a busy couple of weeks, including attending the D23 Expo, so I'm only now reviewing SPIDER-MAN: BRAND NEW DAY (2026), which I saw earlier this month.

BRAND NEW DAY is the fourth of Tom Holland's Spider-Man films of the past decade, following SPIDER-MAN: HOMECOMING (2017), SPIDER-MAN: FAR FROM HOME (2019), and SPIDER-MAN: NO WAY HOME (2021).

It's hard to believe it's been half a decade since the last film, and after the long wait -- including something of a cliffhanger ending -- I was particularly excited to see it. Right from the start I loved Tom Holland's welcome to the theater, in the style of some of Tom Cruise's introductions, saying "We made it for you."

As Marvel fans know, the previous film concluded with Doctor Strange (Benedict Cumberbatch) casting a spell to make the world forget Peter Parker (Holland), aka Spider-Man.

Those who have forgotten Peter include the love of his life, MJ (Zendaya, now the real-life Mrs. Holland), and his best friend Ned (Jacob Batalon).

Peter leads a lonely existence in his apartment, though he emerges regularly to fight crime as Spider-Man. Indeed, that's really all he has in his life at this juncture.

As Spider-Mann, Peter has a professional relationship of sorts over the phone with a New York police detective (Liza Colon-Zayas) and he sometimes interacts with his "frenemy" Frank Castle (Jon Bernthal), aka the Punisher, but Peter is now very much a loner.

As MJ and Ned graduate from MIT and move back to New York, Peter sees them and yearns to reach out, but he's also dealing with serious problems in the form of a telepath (Sadie Sink) who hops from body to body while causing mayhem.

Spider-Man reaches out to Yelena Belova (Florence Pugh) for information regarding the telepath, but while she's able to provide a bit of useful information, Peter's problems are growing: His superpowers are acting very strangely. Perhaps Peter can get ideas from Professor Bruce Banner (Mark Ruffalo), though Bruce no longer has any idea who he is...

Needless to say there's much more to the story, but I'll leave off with that as I don't want to be spoiler-y given that the film was just released.

Holland is excellent as an older, sadder Peter/Spider-Man; he's quite endearing in the role. The viewer aches for his losses and loneliness -- viewers will remember that he also lost Aunt May (Marisa Tomei) in the last film -- and wants to see him happy.

The movie presenting Spider-Man and Frank as having a backstory was confusing, inasmuch as Frank has never before appeared in a Spider-Man film; apparently he and Peter became acquainted during the years since the last film. Thanks to my daughter, at least I knew who the Punisher was before seeing the film!

The movie also makes great use of Yelena; Pugh is seen only briefly but has some very funny line deliveries about dealing with "big potato stuff" while Spider-Man is dealing wtih "small potato stuff."

I was particularly impressed with the way Aunt May is creatively woven into the story in ways that are both natural and moving; May is ultimately a significant key to the plot.

One of the film's strengths is an excellent theme about isolation and the human need for others; indeed, Holland improvised a line Peter delivers at Aunt May's gravesite, "You'd be happy to know that I've decided I'm not going to do this alone anymore."

Given that we often heard during lockdowns that moviegoing was dead and in the future everyone would stay home and stream, there's sweet justice in a movie about the perils of human isolation earning absolutely staggering box office returns.

One of my only criticisms of the film is that although I liked the film's final scene, the audience is left hanging regarding Peter's relationships with MJ and Ned, which was unsatisfying after waiting five years.

Other than that, my main critique of the movie is that the telepath's villainy, taking over bodies, feels like a cheat, rather how I feel about the multiverse concept in general; nothing means anything if nothing is guaranteed to be real and anything can happen anywhere. There's a scene midway through the film with Peter, MJ, and the telepath which I frankly found cruel to viewers.

Otherwise, SPIDER-MAN: BRAND NEW DAY is pure entertainment. It was quite long, at 145 minutes, yet the time flew by. It was wonderful to spend time with characters we've come to care about deeply, and hopefully it won't be another five years before the next movie!

SPIDER-MAN: BRAND NEW DAY was directed by Destin Daniel Cretton and filmed by

Brett Pawlak.

The movie was scored by Michael Giacchino, who I had the pleasure of seeing interviewed by soundtrack historian Jon Burlingame at the D23 Expo a few days ago. Giacchino has described removing notes from the usual Spider-Man theme to give it a more "lonely" sound.

Parental Advisory: This film is rated PG-13. It has the usual "classic Marvel" level of non-graphic violence mixed with positive themes about caring for others.

A trailer is here.

As a postscript of sorts, I especially enjoyed this film as, despite my enjoyment of Marvel films over a great many years, as seen below, I skipped all of the releases from 2021 to 2025, which uniformly looked dark and unappealing. Marvel has returned to form with THUNDERBOLTS* (2025), THE FANTASTIC FOUR: FIRST STEPS (2025), and SPIDER-MAN: BRAND NEW DAY.

Unfortunately, if the latest trailer is a good indicator, the upcoming AVENGERS: DOOMSDAY (2026) looks like a very dark return to the style of films such as DOCTOR STRANGE IN THE MULTIVERSE OF MADNESS (2022) and ANT-MAN AND THE WASP: QUANTUMANIA (2023) which were among the titles I skipped. If a leaked DOOMSDAY plot point I read was accurate, I won't be seeing it, but I'm still hopeful it was a false rumor. We'll find out in December.

Previous Marvel reviews: IRON MAN (2008), IRON MAN 2 (2010), CAPTAIN AMERICA: THE FIRST AVENGER (2011), THOR (2011), THE AVENGERS (2012), IRON MAN 3 (2013), THOR: THE DARK WORLD (2013), CAPTAIN AMERICA: THE WINTER SOLDIER (2014), GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY (2014), AGENT CARTER (2015), ANT-MAN (2015), AVENGERS: AGE OF ULTRON (2015), CAPTAIN AMERICA: CIVIL WAR (2016), DOCTOR STRANGE (2016), GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY VOL. 2 (2017), SPIDER-MAN: HOMECOMING (2017), THOR: RAGNAROK (2017), BLACK PANTHER (2018), AVENGERS: INFINITY WAR (2018), ANT-MAN AND THE WASP (2018), CAPTAIN MARVEL (2019), AVENGERS: ENDGAME (2019), SPIDER-MAN: FAR FROM HOME (2019), BLACK WIDOW (2021), SHANG-CHI AND THE LEGEND OF THE TEN RINGS (2021), SPIDER-MAN: NO WAY HOME (2021), THUNDERBOLTS* (2025), and THE FANTASTIC FOUR: FIRST STEPS (2025).

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Around the Blogosphere This Week...

...is taking the weekend off while I attend Disney's D23 Expo.

 The Expo is taking place this year from August 14th through 16th, and I'll be attending all three days.

 The column will return next weekend, on August 22nd.

For recent links of interest to classic film fans, please visit my August 8th column.

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Off to the 2026 D23 Expo!

Somehow two years have rolled by since the 2024 D23 Expo, and here we are again! Incredibly, it's time for the 2026 Expo.

We had a wonderful time earlier today at the second-ever D23 Day at Disneyland. We especially loved the "Legends Cavalcade," a brief parade featuring a number of Disney Legends.

I was excited to see Ming-Na Wen for the first time!

It was very special to have the chance to meet up with a few Twitter friends today, as well.

This is the ninth D23 Expo. I've been attending since the very first expo in 2009 and will be at the Anaheim Convention Center again for each of the next three days.

There are many great panels on the schedule, including a 20th anniversary celebration of ENCHANTED (2007), a 75th anniversary tribute to ALICE IN WONDERLAND (1951), a 55th anniversary panel on BEDKNOBS AND BROOMSTICKS (1971), and much, much more.

We have reservations for the Saturday evening "Rewind Concert" featuring Disney greats Jodi Benson and Susan Egan, which looks as though it will be similar to a concert we saw at the Hollywood Bowl a couple summers ago.

For "as it happens" photos over the weekend, please follow my Twitter account.

Previously: Off to the 2015 D23 Expo!, Off to the 2017 D23 Expo!, Off to the 2019 D23 Expo!, Off to the 2022 D23 Expo!, Off to the 2024 D23 Expo!

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